


don't you know how much i care?

by mrsonmyr



Series: tender touches with optimal care [2]
Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Ronan Lynch is tender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-10-10 03:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20521358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrsonmyr/pseuds/mrsonmyr
Summary: It's Opal's tenth birthday and Ronan decides to throw her a party.





	don't you know how much i care?

Ronan, against Opal’s wishes and to please his boyfriend, started walking her home after tennis practice. The first time she lead the way, talking about a book she borrowed from the school library or how she wants to start collecting leaves. She said she would take the _fast way _which lead to them cutting across people’s small backyards and walking down tight alleys. Ronan put himself between her and oncoming traffic and then switched sides when they came upon a group of older men watching her too closely. He stared them down until they looked away but he put his hand protectively on Opal’s back as the crossed the street. 

“You need a better route. This isn’t safe for you, you’re nine.” Ronan told her when they made it back to the suburban streets. 

“I’m turning ten next week.” She said giddily. 

“Congrats. Double digits. You having a party?” 

Opal looked down at her racket bag and shook her head. “Mary doesn’t want people over.”

“Who’s Mary?”

“The lady that looks after me. Besides, even if I invited people from my class no one would come.” She kicked a pebble and watched it skip across the street. 

“Adam and I could throw a party for you.” Ronan thought. He remembers all the fun parties he had when he was a kid, never inviting kids his age to them so it was just his brothers, but it was still fun. 

“That’s okay. I should get going.” She stopped in front of an old looking two story house. The wood finishings looked like they were worn out and about to fall off. Some of the shingles on the roof were missing. This wasn’t a home that looked like it would support Opal. 

“This is where you live?”

Opal nods. “Where do you live?”

“I live with Adam. Doesn’t Mary want to meet me?” Ronan asked as he took in the state of the yard. It hadn’t been mowed in a while and there was plastic toys scattering it. 

“No. I didn’t tell her about you. I don’t think she’d let me play tennis if she knew it was with you.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re _old _.” She said like he was some creepy 40 year old preying on young girls. 

“I’m only 24. She should know who’s teaching you tennis. Who’s feeding you breakfast every Saturday.” 

“I don’t have to eat with you if it’s a hassle.” Opal looked down at her tennis shoes, they were falling apart too. 

“Opal,” Ronan sighed, “I like having breakfast with you. I just think that because I’m an adult I should meet your parents. They deserve to know who you’re with.”

“Mary _isn’t _my parent.” She said stubbornly. “I need to go.” She ran up the steps and slammed the screen door behind her. 

Ronan walked back to the tennis court where he parked his car. He took a different way so he could find a safer route for Opal to walk. By the time he got home he could hear the shower running, Adam was up and starting his day. Ronan opened the bathroom door and took a face cloth to wipe any sweat from his face. He could see Adam’s figure from the steamed glass doors. 

“Hey.” Adam yelled over the running water. 

“Hi.” Ronan threw his shirt and shorts off and opened the shower door. He placed a kiss to Adam’s shoulder and then let the water wash over his head and face. Adam sat on the bench, or the fuck bench as Ronan had dubbed it, and watched his boyfriend use up the rest of the hot water. 

“How was tennis?” Adam didn’t miss the way Ronan shut his eyes at the question. 

“Fine. We went for breakfast after and then I told her I was walking her home.” 

“You did?” Adam asked, he had been telling Ronan that he needed to make sure Opal got home safe and to be responsible and introduce himself to her guardians. 

“Yeah. I’m glad I did, she took the back roads and it’s not safe for a fucking nine year old to be walking alone.” Ronan squeezes out some shampoo and scrubs it into his short hair. “Oh yeah, her birthday is next week. Her guardian lady won’t let her have a party so we’re going to have one for her.” 

Adam stood and wrapped his arms around Ronans body, scratching his hand down his back. “You’re so good to her.”

“Someone needs to be. You can tell from just looking at her house that she’s not getting what she needs.” 

“We should invite Gansey and Blue. Gansey would get her a good gift.” Adam kisses Ronan’s neck. 

“Gansey wouldn’t know what to get a ten year old girl.” Ronan says as he rinses the suds from his hair. 

“Blue could help him.” Adam said, his hand snaking down Ronan’s stomach, stopping to take him in his grip. 

“Parrish,” Ronan whines. 

“You’re so good at taking care of everyone.” Adam says as he works his hand up and down Ronan’s shaft. Ronan rests his head on Adam’s shoulder to steady himself. 

“Let me take care of you.” Adam murmurs into his ear as he works his hand faster. 

—

Opal loved to talk to Ronan once she warmed up to him. She would tell him about her dream last night, that she learned a new word in school today ( _exuberance. noun. the quality of being full of energy or excitement. _) She would tell him what her favourite fruit was and her least favourite vegetable. She would ask him questions about his life; his friends, his family, did he have pets? What was Adam doing? Ronan loved to talk back, he’d listen to all of her thoughts and add some _adult _commentary. (“ _You don’t like broccoli but greens are good for you.” _) He’d try his best to answer all of her questions and she would try to answer his, as long as they didn’t dive too deep into her life. Whenever he asked about where she grew up, how she ended up in Mary’s care, or even _what _school she went too, Opal wouldn’t budge. One time Ronan told her that she needed to mature a little and just fess up on if she was being treated right and she dropped her racket and ran home. Ronan held onto it and brought it back to her the following week with an apology. 

He needed to invite her to her own birthday party. Adam decided they would have it at their place on Saturday instead of going to tennis practice and that Blue and Gansey were more than happy to attend. Ronan walked down the same path that Opal showed him when he took her home last Saturday and waited for her to get back from school. He didn’t know when she’d be done school so he got there around 3 and waited. 3 quickly turned into 3:15 and then 3:30 and there was still no sign of Opal or any other school kids. He decided to knock on the front door, even if he knew it would piss her off, he didn’t have the time to wait around all afternoon for her. 

A woman, a big woman, tall with broad shoulders answered the door. She swung the screen door open and Ronan stepped back so it wouldn’t hit him. 

“Can I help you?” She asked him. The scent coming from inside smelled like tomato sauce and cigarettes. 

“Is Opal home?” Ronan asked, trying his best to peek past her to get a look inside. He saw Opal’s tennis racket sitting next to a chair on the porch. 

“What do you want with Opal? Did she get in trouble at school?” The woman crossed her arms. 

“No. I’m Ronan, I teach her tennis on Saturdays. I just needed to talk to her about our next lesson.” 

The woman stepped forward to pull the screen door shut. She then closed and locked the door and Ronan turned and walked down the porch. What a waste of time. He decided to walk back up the street to head home, passing a park on the way. He saw kids playing on the junglegym and throwing balls around in the grass. There she was, sitting alone and ripping grass from the yard. 

“Hey! Opal.” Ronan yelled as he walked towards her. She looked up after sprinkling the grass over her shorts. 

“What are you doing here?” 

“I was looking for you. I wanted to invite you to your birthday party on Saturday.” 

Her face lit up. “ _My _party?”

“Yeah. Adam and I and some of our friends are going to be there. Meet me at the tennis court and I will bring you to the party.” 

“I don’t know, Mary wouldn’t like that. She doesn’t like that when I go to peoples houses.” 

“Don’t tell her. It can be our secret.” He held his fist out for her to bump it before he walked back to the street. He didn’t miss when a girl asked Opal who that was and Opal’s response of _“my best friend.”_

—

Ronan and Adam drove down to the tennis court on Saturday morning to pick up Opal while Blue and Gansey decorated the apartment with streamers and balloons. They parked the car and waited for her outside the tennis court but she didn’t show. Adam said they should wait a few more minutes but Ronan was worried. 

“You should wait here incase she shows, I’m going to go to her house.” Ronan told him as he took off into the direction of where Opal lived. This time he took the fast route incase he saw her, there were lots of kids outside playing on that Saturday morning but none were Opal. He turned onto her street and saw kids doing hopscotch on the sidewalk, playing basketball at a net by the end of the street, all these kids to play with and Opal never mentions them. 

He climbed up her front porch and knocked on the door, waiting impatiently. Finally he heard some movement from inside and he saw little Opal open the door, she didn’t open the screen door so Ronan chose to. 

“What happened to you?” Opal was wearing a cotton dress with some stains on it, her short hair wasn’t brushed, and her right eye was bruising, a yellowish colour. She didn’t say anything. “Did Mary do this?” She shook her head. “Don’t lie to me, Opal.” 

She stepped out onto the porch and gently shut the screen door so the people inside wouldn’t hear their conversation. “I don’t want to go to my party.”

“Why not?”

Opal shook her head and looked down again, trying to avoid showing Ronan her face and now her tears. Ronan bent down and got on one knee so they were eye level. 

“Opal, what happened?”

“I fell.”

“How?”

She wiped a tear off her cheek with her hand. “I had a visitation with my mom. And I fell.” 

“She didn’t push you?” Ronan noticed that she held her breath when he asked that. “Opal, tell me the truth.” 

“It was an accident. She didn’t mean to. Mary said next time she would be in the room with me.” 

Ronan stood back up and gave her a pat on the head. “Okay. Are you okay?” 

She nods her head solemnly. 

“You’re going to be late for your party. Come on, we gotta go.” Ronan held his hand out for her to take, but she didn’t. 

“I can’t.” She took a step back. 

“Opal, Adam put a lot of effort in. He made _me _make the cake. Would you just come?” 

“Mary doesn’t want me to go anywhere until I’m better.” She looked back down at her feet. “I’m sorry.” 

Ronan ran a hand over his head. “It’s fine. We can always do this another time.” 

“But my birthday was three days ago.” 

“And did Mary make you a cake?” Opal shook her head. “Yeah, so I’m going to make another cake for another party and when you’re feeling better you can have a 10th birthday party. I’ll see you next week for lessons. You better show, don’t scare me again.” Ronan said as he stepped off the porch and jogged back to the tennis court. 

“Where is she?” Adam asked when he saw Ronan walking towards him alone. 

“She’s not coming today.” 

“Why not? What’s wrong?” Adam noticed Ronan’s tense attitude. 

“She’s just _not _. Drop it. We can do it next week.” 

“Okay.” Adam took Ronan’s hand. “I guess we have a lot of cake to eat.” 

—

Blue and Gansey helped take down the decorations they worked so hard on putting up. Then they all ate a large slice of birthday cake. Blue wiped off some of the frosting that got on Ganey’s nose. 

“The cake is good.” Blue said. 

“The cake is excellent.” Gansey reaffirmed. 

Ronan hummed as he put a fork full of cake in his mouth. As upset as he was he couldn’t deny, he knew how to make a fucking good cake. 

The couple left in the afternoon, taking another slice of cake with them, leaving Ronan and Adam continue their daily routine. Adam wasn’t at work so he’d help make dinner, and by help he stands behind Ronan watching him stir the pot or fry the chicken and asks “is it done?” and when Ronan tells him “no Parrish I just put it on the fucking stove” he waits some more and cleans the mess that Ronan made. Dating Ronan Lynch for over a year has prepared him for the inhumanly noises that Ronan makes when he eats, sometimes Adam thinks he’s choking but he swallows and continues to ram food into his mouth. At first Adam thought it was a joke but over time he’s gotten used to it. After dinner they wash and dry the dishes and if it’s nice out they like to go for a walk. Adam likes the warm fresh air and Ronan likes any excuse to hold his boyfriends hand. They get home, shower, one of them usually initiates sex (that night it was Adam), and then fall asleep. 

Adam climbed into bed and wrapped his arm around Ronan, spooning him.

“You tried your best.” His said into his neck and kissed him. 

“I know. Sucks though.” 

“Sometimes dealing with kids like that-”

“Like what?” Ronan said, almost defensively. 

“Abused kids. Kids that come from rough homes or just plain not being loved from a parent. I’ve been there, believe me, I know how she’s feeling. Sometimes it’s hard to accept things from people, accept the gift of a birthday party. It’s not as easy as it sounds.”

“She had a bruise on her face from the visitation with her mom.” Adam didn’t say anything, he just held onto Ronan a little tighter. “She’s too little for that shit. No kid deserves it, but a ten year old? You’ve seen her — she’s tiny.” 

“My dad started hitting me when I was that age. Before it was always yelling and slamming doors and mean comments. Then it turned into accidents. _I didn’t mean to grab you that hard. Watch where you’re walking. Smarten up. _Soon it turned into full on hitting. It might not seem like it to you but she’s in a better place staying with Mary.”

“But Mary didn’t throw her a party, she doesn’t let Opal go to friends houses, she doesn’t get Opal new tennis shoes cause hers are worn the fuck out. Who the hell _really _cares about her?”

“You do.” Adam said softly. “I do. She knows that. If I was Opal’s age and had at least _one _person that showed that they cared about me, like you do with her, I probably would’ve gotten out of my house sooner. When you don’t have that light of hope, there never seems to be a point.”

“Parrish.” Ronan rolled in his arms so he was now facing Adam. “I love you.”

“I know. I love you, too.” Adam pecked the tip of his nose. “Don’t force Opal into having another party. If she doesn’t, then we can go out for brunch after tennis.” 

“Okay.”

—

Opal didn’t want to burden Ronan and Adam with throwing her another party, which Adam couldn’t stress enough that it wasn’t a burden and they would have loved to throw her one, so instead they let her pick wherever she wanted to go for brunch. She chose one of the regular spots she and Ronan go too, they were known for their pancakes but it wasn’t an international house. They sat in her favourite booth by the window, she got a paper kids menu to colour on and play tic tac toe. She ordered a stack of chocolate chip pancakes with a milkshake, Adam convinced her to have some fruit with it but Ronan told him to fuck off, it was her birthday she could do what she wanted. 

After they ordered Ronan got up to use the washroom, but Adam didn’t miss the way he spoke to their server in a hushed voice. He returned to the table without even pretending that he went to the washroom and just raised his eyebrow at Adam. When their food came out Opal’s pancakes had candles in them and some of the staff sang happy birthday. Her eyes were huge and her mouth agape at the surprise, she looked up at Ronan with a smile before she blew out her candles and her cheeks started to turn pink when everyone started clapping for her. 

“Happy birthday, Opal.” Ronan smiled at her, it was his smile that he reserved for Matthew and Adam, and now Opal. 

“Thank you.” She said quietly after she blew out her candles. Adam reached across the pluck the waxy candles out of her pancakes so she wouldn’t burn her fingers. 

“Opal, Ronan and I wanted to get you a present but we weren’t sure what size you would be. We’d like to take you to the mall sometime so you could try it on.” Adam said as he slid a cutout of a magazine across the table. It was a clipping of tennis shoes, all new and clean. She looked at the paper for awhile and Adam notices her lower lip tremble. “We want to get these for you. Ronan noticed that your shoes are worn out and it would make us really happy to take you and pick out a new pair.” 

“I don’t have any money.” She said as she looked down at her untouched fruit plate. 

“ _We’re _going to buy them for you. As a present.” Ronan told her. “You don’t have to accept them but we wanted to get you a birthday present. You only turn ten once.” 

“Okay.” She looked up and saw Ronan’s arm thrown over Adam’s shoulder and Adam smiling at her like she did something _really _good to deserve it. 

“Finish your breakfast and then we’ll take you. Next week you’ll be playing so much better with new shoes.” Ronan told her. 

Opal sat on the bench as the woman at the store measured the size of her foot, she then went to the back to bring out a box for Opal to try on. Ronan helped open and tie the shoes once Opal got her foot into them. She walked around the store and decided that she liked them, Adam helped take the tags off so she could wear them home while Ronan paid for them. They left the store, Opal with a smile every time she looked down and saw her new shoes, Adam and Ronan couldn’t help but smile either. She couldn’t stop thanking them the entire way home, she had never had a gift this nice before. Opal reached up to put her small hand in Ronan’s as they walked out of the mall and towards his car. Ronan held onto her hand tight, never wanting to forget this feeling. Opal could grow up and decide to quit tennis or make new friends and get too busy for Ronan or even move away. But in this moment he was her best friend and he couldn’t help but smile at that.


End file.
